A Secret Admirer
by Kyra Wolf
Summary: A new girl arrives at school and is completely different and could care less. Fish is drawn to her like a bug to a zapper and quickly the two fall in love. However, how long can they stay together?
1. New Arrival

ALL CHARACTER EXCEPT AORTA ARE © TO DISNEY

**Chapter 1**

**RIIIINGG!** The school bell of Oaky Oaks ran throughout the school's campus. Animal children flocked to the most boring class of the day, Mutton. Abby, Runt and Fish stood outside the classroom door, patiently waiting for their friend, Chicken Little. Abby's foot tapped the ground in a looping beat, sighing here and there. Runt turned around and read the posters outside Mr. Woolensworth's door, and Fish just leaned against the wall, looking wicked awsome as always.

After waiting about five minutes or so, Fish and Runt headed in so Mr. W wouldn't flip at them. Abby waited a few minutes longer then shook her head. "Chicken Little..." She turned, glancing back, then walked into Mutton.

Mr. Woolensworth was glaring at Abby as she crossed the room and sat next to Foxy as normal. Foxy turned her hed and smiled deviously at Abby. However, the duckling just ignored it. Runt and Fish sat near the back, throwing little Flamewheel Cars at each other here and then, only to stop when Mr. W cleared his throat and turned around.

"Alright class." Said the old sheep, "Time to take role-call.. Foxy Loxy..?"

The young fox kit raised her hand and smiled as sweetly as possible. "Present, pretty and punctual!" Abby sighed. She said that every morning. It was very irritating..

"Goosey Loosey, Fuzzy Wuzzy, Runt of the Litter.. Indeed... Morkupine Porkupine.. Fish out of Water.." Fish smiled and clapped his fins together, then did a very good impression of Jean Simons from KISS. The class cracked up, while Mr. Woolensworth just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Ugl- I mean, Abby Mallard..?"

Foxy coughed and muttered "Uglyduckling" Abby growled and threw a piece of pencil eraser at her.

"Chicken Little...?" Mr. W called. Everyone fell silent. "Chicken Little..?" Mr. Woolensworth called again. Fish, Abby, and Runt looked at his empty seat once again. It was at that exact moment he ran in the door.

"Sorry Mr. Woolensworth...! My dad overslept and I had to walk to sch-" However, Mr W pointed at Chicken Little's seat and glared at him. Chicken Little sighed and sat down. Abby gave him a smile as he walked past her. Sitting at his desk, he stared up to the front of the classroom and sighed. Runt leaned over as much as his tiny desk would let him without tipping over and patted Chicken Little on his shoulder. He smiled a bit, and jumped when a paper airplane landed smoothly on his desk. He opened it and in Fish's hand-writing read, "At least you made it today."

The latebell sounded and Mutton began. Half an hour later, everyone was in a daze. "Fur." preeched Mr. Woolensworth. Everyone, with their eyes half opened, opened their mouths wide and muttered in a chorus (and an exeptional bored glubs of water) "Baa." Runt fell asleep, snoring quietly, while Fish propped his helmet and head up with his fins, a glazed look in his eyes. Chicken Little had his head down on his desk, and Abby was staring up at the clock as the minutes snailed by. "Baa." Replied everyone before they realized Mr. Woolensworth had said nothing. He was talking to the Principal Fetchit in a low voice. CL, Runt, Abby, and Fish concentraited on what they were saying, but before they could hear anything, Principal Fetchit nodded and went to the door.

"Class, we have a new student! Ms. Aorta Houdtooth!" Mr. Woolensworth announced. The Principal opened the door, and in walked in an unusual looking wolf pup. She was pitch black with a black t-shirt on and orange baggy pants. On her shirt was a scary looking Jack'o Lantern and a Halloweenish feel hung around her. Shiney silver claws were visable on her hands and paws. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail with an orange scrunchie and her bangs stuck up and out at odd angles. The hair in her ponytail was neatly brushed and, just like her bangs, stuck at wierd angles. The tips of her paws, hands and hair was a light orange. Everyone seemed to recoil at her awkward appearance. She smiled, her bright purple eyes beaming along with her pearly whites.

Mr. Woolensworth made a wierd face her behind her back, which was a look of discust. "You may sit over there.." he said in a low voice. She walked down the isle, drifting the smell of pumpkins very slightly behind her. She took her seat next to Fish, who gave her a questioning look. Something about her made him feel warm inside. To say a somewhat of a hello, he blew some bubbles at her. Aorta's head turned and looked at him. She lifted her eyebrow and smiled. Fish waved and turned back to Mr. W. For some reason, Mutton Class was going to fly by for him.


	2. Lunch and Lockers

**Chapter 2**

"Fish, are you ok?" Runt asked at lunch, putting down his bag of chips. Abby and Chicken Little stared at Fish who seemed to be far off in space, or farther off than usual. At the sound of his name, Fish snapped out of his daydream, and blubbed. Runt eyed him unsure of what to do while Abby and Chicken Little started munching on some cookies they snuck out of Runt's titanic lunch bag. Nodding, Fish put his head on top of his fins and just stared forward.

Sitting alone at a table, Aorta munched on some raw steak she brought glancing at everyone with their friends. Her tail and ears drooped a bit and her eyes no longer had that special sparkle in them Fish noticed when she first stepped into class. Abby noticed Fish's overly large eyes staring straight past them, and followed where he was looking. "Her..?" Abby asked, turning back. Fish mindlessly nodded slowly, the water inside his helmet sloshing around.

Runt snorted into his 6th pudding container and Chicken Little missed his mouth, accidently dropping some of his feed on the table. Abby gave Chicken Little a quick, hard elbow in the ribs as if to say, "Shut up!" She quickly glanced at Fish, hoping he didn't notice anything. However, he gave her, CL, and Runt a questioning look, but movement from the far table caught his attention.

After licking her claws clean of the steaks juices, Aorta lept up from the table and crumbled up her brown paper bag and threw it across the room where it landed right in the middle of the trashcan. Without realizing it, Fish clapped, blubbing in amazment, then quickly stopped, his golden-orange face now red. She turned and gave him a warm smile and walked out of the cafeteria.

Fish followed her out with his eyes then turned around, putting his head down on the table with a huge THUNK. Runt, Chicken Little and Abby couldn't help but giggle. 'Who cares.' Thought Fish. 'They can laugh all they want.. but she's mine..'

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Shoving his math and science books into his locker and slamming it shut, Fish began walking to gym class. He heard rumors from Abby and Runt it was dodgeball. 'No problem!' He thought. Halfway down the hall, a black and orange wolf was hitting her head off the locker, cursing quietly under her breath. His heart lept. It was Aorta!

He stayed behind her, quiet as he can possibly be. As she entered her combination again, Fish caught the locker number. Locker 13. This was a locker that can only be opened one way. Gathering up his courage, he walked over and placed a fin on her furry shoulder. She lept a bit, but turned. "Oh, Hello! Fish, isn't it..?" She asked uncertainly. Fish nodded, attempting not to blush at she remembered his name, though it wasn't very hard. "Buurrrbblll" He said pointed at the locker and then her books.

Unsure of what he ment, she stepped back and watched. Fish balled up his fin like a fist and aimed. He then swung with all his might, hitting the center of the locker. Immediently, it swung open, revealing a fresh, clean locker ready to be contaminated with junk and pictures and stuff. She picked her books up and chucked them in, slamming it shut. "Hey, thanks!" She said, her mouth breaking into a slight smile. "Say, you're kinda cool..!" Aorta said. "My next class is gym... Can you show me where it is..?"

Fish nearly cried out in joy, but constrained himself. He blubbed happily, and beckoned her to follow him. She nodded as they set off down the hall together towards the gym.


	3. DODGEBALL!

**Chapter 3**

Rounding the corner, Fish pointed at large doors with a bunch of kids already inside. "So THATS the gym..." Aorta said, attempting to force her brain to remember. Fish nodded and ran up to the doors. He pushed one open and let her walk in. "Thanks buddy.." She remarked walking past him into the gym, stopping at the crowd.

Fish ran in up to Chicken Little, Abby and Runt letting the door slam behind him.

"Fish, what took so long...?" CL asked. Fish blubbered something quietly. "You're locker got stuck..?" CL questioned akwardly. Fish nodded, not wanting to admit he was around Aorta. It was bad enough he was teased because he had to wear a helmet.

Luckily for him, it was that exact moment the coach walked out, throwing a rubber ball up and down in his right paw. "Ok teams! You know what to do! Dodgeball!" Immediently, the class split up into two teams. Chicken Little and company quickly went with all the unpopular kids, while Aorta wandered to the other side. She was stopped short, however, by a swift jab in her stomach. Doubling over in pain, she looked up and saw Foxy Loxy.

"Oh, soooo sorry.. but you seem to be on the wrong team.." She sneered, Goosey Loosey looming behind her. Aorta growled and stood up, cracking her knuckles violently, then shook her head. "Whatever, you snot.." She growled at Foxy. She stomped to the other team and hid in the back while Foxy and Goosey giggled to themselves.

"Man, I like Foxy when her brainwaver jiggers were messed up.." moaned Runt. Chicken Little and Abby nodded while Fish turned around and stared at Aorta. 'Its no fair she just arrive and is already being picked on..' he thought. Looking around to make sure his friends weren't watching, he snuck away to go next to her.

She looked up when he arrived. "Oh, hello.. come to make fun of me too...?" Fish gasped and quickly shook his head, making his helmet crooked. After arranging it, he blubbed something about Foxy to Aorta which made her crack up into silent fits of hysterical laughter. However, their laughter was cut short when a ball whipped past them. "GET THE NOOB!" Shouted Foxy.

Everyone on the opposing team turned away from everyone and aimed at the poor wolf. Fish didn't know what to do or how she would handle this. A sudden whoosh of air and grunts from students told them they fired. Fish began dodging with some catchy Michael

Jackson-like moves, but stopped to look at Aorta. He expected her to be out already but to to his enormous surprise, she was deflecting the balls right back at the players with her fists and feet. Her hits seemed fast as lightning and her timing was pretty damn good.

Feeling relieved, Fish jumped back in the game, grinning evily. After about 20 minutes of straight dodging and tagging, only four people remained. Fish and Aorta against Foxy and Goosey. Drenched in sweat, Aorta clutched two balls, while Fish only had one. Most of the balls were on Foxy and Gooseys' side. The rest of the class watched, holding their breaths.

THWANG! Foxy was the first to fire. Aorta threw a ball at Foxy's missle and the two rubber balls collided in the air, making them bounce backwards. Aorta caught her ball while Foxy was taken by utter surprise. The ball bounced off Foxy's head, making her stumble and trip over her bushy tail. She fell down onto her posterior hard as everyone on the unpopular team burst into gales of laughter.

This angered Foxy.

The mad kitsune got up and ran toward Aorta, her clawed paws in fists. She lept into the air ready to arieal attack the Halloween-ish wolf. Aorta growled. Enough was enough! It was just a dumb game! She took a few running steps and lept up to meet Foxy. However, before either one could reach each other, the coach ran forward and grabbed them by the scruff of their necks. "I NEVER... YOU TWO..." He was fuming mad at the two of them. Aorta's tail drooped along with her ears while Foxy shot a look of pure poison at her ex-target. Fish was shocked. This was the first time Foxy was actually caught for something!

Coach then put the two down but kept a firm hold onto their collars. Muttering under his breath, he escorted them to Principals office. Everyone cheered when they left but Fish. 'Aorta simply attacked in self defense!' he thought angriliy. 'Ahh..' Said a nasty voice in the back of his head. 'She still aimed for a fight!' He quickly shook that thought off.

Runt ran over and happily exclaimed "FISH! Wasn't that AWSOME! Foxy's DEFINATLY going to get a few detensions! So is that other girl, but who cares. No one cares about her at al-"

BAM!

Runt staggered backwards, bruised slightly but certainly shocked. Fish had just punched Runt in the gut as hard as he could muster. A new emotion flooded over him, and it certainly wasn't his jovial side. Its was hatred. 'HOW DARE YOU!' His mind screamed. 'I CARE ABOUT HER YOU-'

"FISH OUT OF WATER!" A booming voice rang throughout the gym. The coach was back and due to the large ammount of steam billowing out of his ears, he must have saw Fish's swing at one of his best friends. "YOU! OFFICE! NOW!"

Fish inhaled some water and suddenly was bewildered. 'Why did I just attempt to hurt my friend..?' Was all he could keep asking himself down the hall to Principal Fetchit's office. Stopping outside his door, the coach stopping right behind him, Fish had no other choice. he slowly opened the door and walked in.

Back at the gym, Chicken Little, Abby and Runt dominated a corner for themselves.

"Abby, why do you think Fish hit me..?" Runt wimpered, massaging his side.

Abby sighed and shut her eyes. "Isn't it obvious..?"

"What is?" CL and Runt asked.

"Fish is in love."

"WHAT?" CL and Runt exclaimed, jaws nearly hitting the floor.

Abby continued. "Why ELSE would he be zoned out in classes, or switched to pumpkin flavored fish food, or doodling pictures of him and Aorta?" There was no answer from the boys, until..

"Abby...?"

"What Runt?"

"Can you imagine the children..?"


	4. First Kiss

**Chapter 4**

"Never! In all my years of being Principal-" An Angry Principal Fetchit was all he could muster. "Foxy! Picking a fight with a student over a game! Aorta, falling to Foxy's bait and attempting to fight back! and-" He stopped short, staring at the last kid in his office.

Fish stared up at Fetchit with a look of extreme guilt in his eyes. The Principal paused then said, "And I don't know what you did Fish, but you obviously did something. So, afterschool today, you will all stay for detention." He then pointed with his furry thumb at his door and motioned to them they could leave. Foxy lept up and left quickly, obviously still steamed. However, Fish and Aorta left together to finish the rest of the school day.

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Detention wasn't as bad as they thought. They were sent to Ms. Spottedfur, a leopard teacher who always loved her kids dearly. When the trio walked in, she motioned them to sit where ever. Aorta and Foxy took the back corners as far away form each other as they could get. Fish grabbed the desk next to Aorta and sat, doing some homework for Mutton and Language Arts.

Aorta, having finished her homework in study hall, pulled out a sharpener, a fresh new pencil, and some white glossy paper. She began drawing, starting with a sketch, then moving on to darkening to lines. Fish peered over from time to time. What looked like a squishy mess of pencil marks slowly evolved into a beautiful lake with lillypads and all kinds of flora growing around it. Something in Fish's mind clicked, like if he knew that place.

Aorta, noticing him looking at her pencil drawing, sighed and said, "I've always wanted to go to a wonderous place like this..." Fish turned back to his work and smiled like he knew something he shouldn't know. Foxy shot them nasty looks and stared down at her work, straining to remember things her teachers droned on about.

A bell sounded and Ms. Spottedfur looked up from her book she was reading. "Ok kids, you can leave. I also certainly hope I don't see you in here again." Her eyes followed them out. After they got out of the building, Foxy shot the two animals a look of hate, stuck her tounge out and cantered off. Fish, making sure Foxy was gone, grabbed Aorta's wrist and began to run, dragging her behind him.

As any girl would be, suddenly abducted by a boy, questioned Fish with a shaky voice, "Where are we going..!" He simply turned and blubbed, "Its a surprise!" and kept on running. Aorta, getting some feeling back in her numb legs, start to run along Fish instead of being dragged.

After about 10 minutes of running, her and Fish were clearly outside the town in the woods."Uhh.. Fish..?" Aorta muttered, still a bit confused. Fish ignored her and kept going untill..

They emerged into a clearing in the woods where a large and deep pond stood, still and inviting. Fish let go of Aorta and sat near the waters edge. He then tapped the ground beside him, motioning her to sit. Still in shock at the beauty around her, she did as he asked and sat next to him.

Aorta skimmed a rock over the surface, and it skipped about 5 times. Fish searched for a flat rock. After finally finding one, he skipped it. The rock bounced to the other side of the pool and landed on the shore of the other side. Aorta laughed, "Hey! Thats no fair!" She then shoved him playfully, and started to laugh. Fish pushed her back, smiling happily. They did this for a few minutes till SPLOOOOOOSH!

Fish lept up and stared at the pound. Aorta had just slipped and fell in and disapeared from sight. After a few seconds, some bubbles appeared and the wolven popped out, hair drenched and flattened. Reaching up, she tugged the orange hairtie out and flicked it up onto the rocks to her fur could float freely through the water. "Come on in! It's quite nice actually!"

With care, Fish baby-stepped to the pound and stared at the water. If he kept his helmet on, he would be a bit too heavy to swim, and if he took it off... Well, he could. But if this was salt water, it was just an act of suicide. Aorta looked at him then the water, and then understood. "Its freshwater!" She said, inhaling a mouthful and squirting it at him. "It tastes good too! Here, I can help!" With that, she climbed up onto the shore and stood behind Fish. "Still sure you want to go in?"

Fish nodded, and prepared to dive. Aorta gripped the side of the diving bell and gripped onto it with her claws. "By the way.. Thanks for standing up for me.." She then lifted the helmet up. Fish inhaled some water, and dived into the pound while the water from the helmet cascaded down in buckets. After calming down, Fish looked up and waited for Aorta to come in. To calm his nerves, he swam around for a few minutes. 'I missed being able to do this..' he thought. A faint splashing noise caught his attention, and he turned his head.

Aorta had jumped into the water, hair floating freely behind her. She swam over to Fish, and pushed in gently, sending him to float off a few inches. He caught himself and pushed her back. After quick runs to the surface for the wolf, the two played together in the pound for quite a while. After about an hour, they began to slow down and just started to lazily swim around.

After drifting around like he was laying on a couch on his dorsal side, Fish glanced up. Aorta was slowly swimming toward him. Her eyes glittered with happiness and something else, but Fish wasn't sure what it was. The little smile on her face hinted she was going to do something, but what is was, it was unclear to Fish till..

She grabbed him by his shoulders and gave him a gentle hug, temporarily shocking the poor goldfish. After the hug, she broke and smiled, still keeping her hands on his shoulder. She moved in closer so Fish could clearly see every eyelash and her eyes half shut. She seemed to get too close then...


	5. BUSTED

( As no one seems to know what Fish's house looks like or his family for that matter, I got creative. xD; )

**Chapter 5**

Walking back to his home, Fish inhaled some fresh lake water lost in his own world. Tonight was the most wonderful night he ever had, and it would probably be the best night he ever would have. Undoing the latch on the gate in front of his house, humming a little tune, he was still thinking about what had just happened..

Silently shutting the gate, Fish walked over to a ladder which led into a giant tank filled with water, with a house that looked like a sand castle resting on the bottom of it. He lept into the water, ignoring the ladder that led down to the tanks floor as normal. He slowly decended down onto the sandy bottom, and for the second time today, removed his helmet. Carefully putting it outside the door, he crept into the house.

Peeking into the kitchen, he saw his mother and father having a quiet conversation with their backs to him. Fish quickly swam past them, and went to his room. Breathing normaly now, he laid down on his bed and smiled to himself. 'They'll never know..' He thought to himself. Just as he was about to doze off, the phone rang. He ignored it and put the pillow over his head, nearly blocking the sound out completely.

However, that blasted phone kept ringing. Fish grabbed the small seashell shaped pillow from on the matress and chucked it at the phone at the phone. It hit the phone square on the answering machine button, and the phone stopped ringing. However, there was a beep and a rustling noise. Then Runt's voice came over the speaker.

"Uh.. hello..? Fish? Um... I just wondering if you're feeling better since this morning when.. you know.." Fish lifted the pillow, and stared at the phone as if it were going to explode. Runt continued, " I'm sorry if I said anything to you to tork you off.. I didn't really mean it.." There was a muffled sniffling from Runt and wild wispering that sounded like it came from Chicken Little. Then there was a gasp, and a sound as if the phone was dropped. Then Abbey's voice came over the machine. "If you want, come on over to my place. Runt wants to show us how well he learned Kung Fu Fighting. He said he would even dance, and I'm sure we all need a laugh today." Then there was one last final click and a beep.

Fish looked at his waterproof radio that lazily floated above his nightstand. It read 'Five Thirty'. 'Its not too late to go out..' Fish thought. Silently, he got to the floor, and crept over to the driftwood door. He had to stay quiet and sneak out of the the house like he was over at Abbey's the whole time, because it would be a field day to explain to his parents he was serving detention.

He opened his door and peeked out. The coast was clear, so he carefully walked out, shutting the door behind him. He snuck past the kitchen, not noticing his parents were no longer in there. His fin barely touched the front door's knob when..

"Fishy!" Fish froze, and slowly turned his gaze apon the horror that was his little sister. She was laying on the floor, coloring pictures of who knows what, wearing her new pink outfit. She looked really cute, if it wasn't for the fact she began screaming, "FISHY GO OUT! FISHY GO OUT! FISHY GO OUT!" It was no use, as her cries would obviously bring his parents in.

Sure enough, within a few seconds, a large goldfish swam into the room and picked up the screaming child. "Whats wrong, Guppy?" Sniffing, Guppy pointed at her big brother about to leave. Fish was frozen on the spot, seeing some anger in his mother's eyes. Fast, but gently, Mom put the little girl on the floor. Guppy giggled and grined at her sibling. "You're gunna get so bused!" She teased, before squealing and running out of the room, laughing like a hyena.

Paddling over to couch, Fish knew what was coming. His sister got it all the time, and now it was his turn... unless..

"Fish out of Water." His mother started. She then began to rant..

"I WAS SO WORRIED! YOU NEVER CAME HOME FROM SCHOOL! SO I TALKED TO YOUR DAD, AND HE'S NOW OUTSIDE WATCHING FOR YOU, AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO SNEAK BACK IN AND ATTEMPT TO SNEAK BACK OUT WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING? REALLY! WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU!"

Fish opened his mouth to say something...

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! YOU GO RIGHT BACK TO YOUR ROOM RIGHT NOW, MISTER! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR A BLUB OUT OF YOU!" She then stopped, and inhaled some water turning back to her normal golden-yellow color.

Fish opened his mouth once more, "Mom... I stayed after school to help the teachers and then I went over to Chicken Little's for a bit to help him with his algebra and then I came back home and started looking for you. I didn't find you so I thought you might be outside, and so I went to look for you then Guppy started screaming, and you came in and started yelling. So, I was wondering if I could go to Abbeys?" Of corse, he said this all real fast and in one breath of oxygen.

It took a while for his mother to figure out what he just said. It was silent till, "Oh. Is that what you were doing afterschool for so long?" Fish nodded. "Oh.. Well.. sure you can go out! I'm sorry I exploded on you, honey.." She smiled, and turned to go out of the room when Guppy started to cry nearby. Fish quickly opened the door and bolted out, but not before he heard his sister wail, "HE WAS SUPPOSTA GET IN TWOUBLE!"

After making sure his diving bell was securely fastened onto him properly, Fish climbed the ladder out of the tank and shivered. 'I wish it was as warm as it is out here as it is in there..' He thought. He grabbed a rope and slid down the long, flax string instead of climbing down the ladder. He hated climbing down ladders, as he though they took too long, but I'm sure you'd have noticed that by now. He hit the ground, and took off to Abbeys. Rounding the corner, he spotted his dad waving wildly at him from inside the tank. Not wanting to go back, Fish just waved and kept on running.

A couple of blocks later, Fish slowed down to a walk. It wasn't that he was tired, it was just because he started to daydream again. This time, the thoughts drifted from his first kiss he just recieved a few hours ago to the point where him and Aorta got married. He had a mental image of his children, which were part fish and part canine. 'They'd be Folfs..' he thought absent-mindly. It was then he realized, he had walked two blocks past Abbey's. He ran back to where CL, Runt, and Abbey were laughing on the porch stoop.

"Did you forget where I lived?" Abbey asked, giggling. Fish imitated Abbey in a watery voice with his face twisting into goofy positions with an eyebrow up and the other down. There was silence, till the gang cracked up. Fish sighed. Things were going to go fine tonight. After watching Runt do Kung Fu Fighting, Crocodile Rock, and other oldies, Fish smiled happily. It was good to have friends who forgave. At about nine o'clock, they had to leave. Fish walked home with Runt and CL, getting into shoving wars along the way. Of course, Runt won that. They stopped at Chicken Little's house. He said his goodbyes and ran in. So only Fish and Runt was left. They slowly began walking down the street.

"So... no hard feelings about this morning..?" Asked the paranoid piglet. Fish grinned and shook his head. He then playfully punched Runt in the gut. Runt giggled, and mutterred something about "That tickled."

After arriving home, Fish stretched out on his bed and smiled. He couldn't wait for tomarrow... He would see Chicken Little again.. and Runt.. and Abbey... and Aorta.. Her name seemed to echo through his mind, and quietly lulled him to sleep.


	6. A Gift of Love

Right. First off, I wish to thank everyone who enjoys reading this! D You make me get off my lazy bum and write. Also, I will be going on vacation, meaning the next chapster may not be up in about 2 weeks or so. shot I'll try my best though. You're going to be in for quite a surprise.

And since I will get PWNED by flamers for not putting it up..

ALL CHARACTERS EXEPT AORTA, MS. GOLDENFEATHER, GUPPY, AND MRS. SPOTTEDFUR ARE COPYRIGHTED TO DISNEY

AORTA, MS.GOLDENFEATHER, GUPPY, AND MRS. SPOTTEDFUR ARE FIGMENTS OF MY TWISTED IMAGENATION, THUS THEY BELONG TO ME.

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Days turned into nights, and weeks flew by. Before long, it seemed that all Oaky Oaks seemed to know about Aorta and Fish. For one thing, they couldn't walk through the halls together without people giggling and pointing fingers. However, the two kids ignored them all, espcially the comments on, " What would the children look like?"

Around midday, Fish and Aorta sat alone in the corner or art class, doodling on some printer paper. The teacher rapped hard on her desk, and they all looked up at her. Fish glanced across the room quickly and sighed. As much as he loved having Aorta sitting closely next to him, he still wished his other friends had art with him. He was soon snapped out of his normal daydreaming when the teacher began talking.

Ms. Goldenfeather was a beautiful white swan, but had a temper. She normally wore some kind of white dress over her sleek white feathers, and always seemed to have a clump of clay in her hands. Her eyes were a brilliant pale blue and she always seemed to have not a pair of eyes, but about six. She could spot a child chewing gum on the the opposite side of the street from the second story window.

Ms. Goldenfeather opened her beak and snapped at some child in the corner who was making himself look like Wolverine by sticking pencils in the cracks of his fingers. After she did her signature glare at him, turned to the rest of the class. "Ok class. Im feeling generous, so I'm letting you doodle QUIETLY. I swear, one peep and its HEADS DOWN for the rest of class." She went back to fiddling with her clay.

Aorta pushed back her chair and trotted up to the front of the class and began digging in the colored pencils box, making a few kids there glare at her and back off, some making the crucifix with their fingers. She turned, her usual jacked-up hair wavering threatingly. She stuck her tounge out and flicked some lead at them. They accepted being hit with lead and just rolled their eyes, and walked away, grumbling about freaks.

She walked back to her seat, tail swishing some crud on the floor here and there. She sat on her chair, and making sure Ms. Goldenfeather wasn't looking, sat indian-legged on the chair. Fish snorted. If there was one thing Aorta was now good at getting away with, it was avoiding the teachers sight. It seemed she was becoming more sly than Foxy and THAT was saying something.

She immediently bent down over her paper and began to sketch a circle, with a cylender under it. Fish watched her for a few minutes out of the corner of his eyes and then began drawing whatever came to his mind. First, he drew himself, then Aorta and some little creature that looked like it was half wolf, and half fish. He giggled to himself and labeled it 'FOLF'.

Aorta, after sketching something, looked over at his paper and her eyes widened. She saw her, Fish, and a.. a FOLF! What the HECK was that? She thought and put the clues together. 'Take wolf.. add F.. take off w-' She stopped thinking immediently and punched Fish playfuly in the shoulder. "You perv!" She snorted, pointing at the paper. Fish blushed furiously and whisked the paper away behind his back giving her the shifty eyes.

Their fun was stopped short, however, when a familiar swan was standing over them, nostrils flaring. "Is there a problem here, you two?" Ms. Goldenfeather asked, a hint of anger and curiosity in her voice. Fish and Aorta shook their heads, Fish succsessfully hiding the paper with his thoughts behind him. However, Ms. Goldenfeather became deeply immersed with the sketch Aorta was in the middle of. She stared at that, and grinned a rare grin. "You really are a strange kid, having wonderous art skills." She complimented, giving Aorta a pat on the head. Aorta smiled and shut her eyes as her tail wagged. Fish watched her interestedly. Appearently, she liked being petted. He made a mental memo to himself of that.

Ms. Goldenfeather then sat back at her desk, while everyone stared at her. It was alien for this teacher to hand out compliments, especially when she was cranky. She seemed to notice everyone staring, because she looked up from her clay and snapped, "What are you looking at? Go back to what you were doing!" The students obeyed and went back to doodling.

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The schoolbell rang and everyone rushed out of the building, screaming wildly, for the weekend had come. Fish was one of the first ones out and immediantly lept to the side so he wasn't trampled by other students who were better suiting for running on dry ground. He laid himself out on the park bench, watching the students scarmble out, tripping and dropping pencils and books.

"Hey Fish!" Someone said behind him. Fish got up and turned, only to see Abbey. He blubbed a hello back at her, and remained focused on the school. Abbey sat down next to him, and inhaled some air. "Aw.. the sweet scent of freedom.. What's up with you?" She asked, noticing Fish wasn't really paying attention. Fish looked at her and grinned. Abbey sighed, wiping imagenary sweat off her forehead. "Wheew! For a second, I thought you were depressed! Don't scare me like that! Anyway, I just wanted to invite you over later on. Chicken Little can't make it, and Runt has his Origami lessons... which I actually never knew he had. So, would you like to come?"

Fish nodded and gave her a fins up. Abbey grinned and gave his helmet a noogie, got up, waved and ran home. Fish turned his attention back into the school doors. 'Where is she?' He angrily thought. He stared at the doors for 5 minutes till he got up and began for home. It was right then he heard a cry, and a thunk of something hitting his headgear. Within a few seconds, he found himself laying on the ground, Aorta laying on top of him. Appearently, she was hanging out in the tree above him, waiting for him.

She got off him, and brushed herself off. "And you thought I forgot.." She muttered, stretching out her back. Grinning like she just won the world series, she offered Fish a paw to help him up. He accepted it, just enjoying the feel of their hands together. Aorta kept grinning and simply asked," So, you want to know why I asked you to come here?" Fish nodded, making his helmet crooked again. She giggled and continued, "I wanted to give you this." She said, reaching in her pocket. She then pulled out a golden chain. On it, was a delicate silver moon. Fish accepted it, and looked closer at the chain. He gasped with amazement, seeing each link wasn't a circle or oval, but a star. He looked back up to her, his mouth open.

"My dad works as a jewler. He has his ways." She quickly explained. "No, I didn't steal this from anyone." She giggled. Fish snorted and put it on, feeling proud for an odd reason. Aorta put her arm around him, flicked open the hatch on the top of his diving bell, and plunged her hand into the cool water. She then did the cruelest thing ever. She gave him a hard noogie ontop of his scaley head, laughing her head off as she did so. Fish inhaled a bunch of water and pulled away, slamming the hatch down with a grunt. He gave a death glare at Aorta, who was busy shaking the water off her arm and giggling like a madman. Fish pouted. What was with people giving him noogies today?


	7. The Great Misunderstanding

Chapter 7

No one seemed able to play nowadays. It was the end of the school year, meaning everyone was inside the school or their homes, studying for those darn finals. They went over what was on the test and all realized they had some studying to do. It seemed only Aorta, Fish, and Abbey knew what they were talking about. However, Aorta joined the sports club, so she was hardly around after school anymore. So Fish started hanging out with Abbey.

They spent a lot of time in the pool or Fish's tank, chasing lightning bugs at the end of the day, and simply playing tag or some other random game. Everytime Fish was having so much fun, he always thought," I wish Aorta was here.." As she was always at football practice for the next year or something like that. Also, the fact she needed to study a bit AFTER the practices made it harder for her to even get out.

Fish was having so much fun with Abbey, however, he seemed to forget about that problem. He would see Aorta in school and a lot in the summer. No biggie! it was that exact moment when Abbey slid on a patch of wet grass outside her pool and did a baseball-like slide into Fish. As the sudden impact on his fins was very hard, it of corse brought him down, landing on top of Abbey.

Not too far off, jersey still on, and helmet off, Aorta was walking home to her den. She was severely sweating and her normally bouncy hair was plastered to her forehead and back. She was smiling, as the couch yelled at the boys on the team, and for good reason. She was the best, according to the coach. She was able to run, tackle, and make a touchdown within minutes. She even tackled and knocked some boys down about three times her size. She felt like nothing could break this happy fealing of hers.

She rounded the corner, and dropped her Oaky Oaks football helmet in surprise. Off in a distance was Fish laying on top of Abbey, looking stunned as if something wonderful happened, and Abbey, blushing like crazy, muttering something. Aorta bent down, and picked her dirty helmet up, and snarled. "Fine. I see how you want to play, Mr. Go off with another girl." She said to Fish, even thought he couldn't really hear her. Aorta then gripped her helmet tighter as she quickly walked home, her claws making long gashes in the normally hard plastic.

However, Fish was not enjoying this at all. His head banged off the glass in his diving bell, making him look a bit stunned. Hey, that really hurts you know. And Abbey was 'blushing' for two reasons. She hit Fish's helmet with some force, making the side of her beak bleed, and the fact she accidently brought him down apon her. She quickly began muttering how sorry she was and how she really didn't mean that.

After Fish recovered from his shock, he nodded, rolled off of Abbey, and rocked himself back up. He turned and offered Abbey a fin back up which she greatfully took. After Abbey checked her beak, which was bleeding even more as she stood up, said to Fish, "You should go now. I expect its after six now." She said. Fish nodded, remembering to be home back by at least seven. He gave Abbey a hug, as a thankyou for letting him play and began jogging home. As he went around the corner, he spotted a familiar figure in a football uniform. He yelled at her to stop.

Aorta kept on walking, but slowed a bit. Fish thought she didn't hear him and yelled again. Aorta kept walking at a slow pace, her claws once again digging into the helmet. Fish sighed and shook his head. 'Crazy wolven.' He thought to himself, running after her. As soon as he was about a foot away from her, she spun around, a wild look in her eyes. "Get away from me." She growled, spitting at the ground in front of him. Fish skidded to a stop, staring deep into her eyes. "What wrong?" He blubbed at her. However, she just lowered her ears and growled, showing true signs of hatred this time. Her eyes flickered down to Fish's neck where he still had that necklace on. She threw her head back and howled with laughter. "HA! Nice attempt to butter me up. Its not going to work!" And with that, she turned, making sure to hit him in the stomach with full-force of her tail and began walking again.

Fish stood there, stunned once again. What just happened? What made her so upset? Fish thought for a while, unaware of what she saw with Abbey, which was a huge misunderstanding. 'Oh. Maybe she had a rough practice.. and she's out of it..' He thought, rubbing his stomach gently. 'Yes. That was it..' He thought, grinning, He then climbed up the ladder, dived into his tank and crept inside. Guppy was watching the Giggle's on TV. Fish stared at it, his eye twitching. Four seahorses in red, yellow, blue, and purple T-shirts singing happy songs HAD to be scary at some point. He quickly paddled past her and went to his room. Removing his helmet, and rolling over to sleep, he was unaware for the shock that was to come tomarrow.


	8. Thorns and Roses

Chapter 8

Fish quickly hurried down the street toward the sound of the ringing schoolbell. 'I Can't BELIEVE I overslept!' He kept thinking to himself. A couple of mothers walking with their kids stared at him strangely as he dashed pass and burst into the school. After skidding down the hall, he opened the door and snuck in while Mr. Woolensworth was on the phone with someone.

He carefully army-crawled to his seat and popped up, and pretended to be bored and blend with everyone as if he was there all along. Aorta looked at him, and growled. She looked back down at her drawing of something, and began to delicately color with a yellow-orange pencil. Fish looked at Mr. Woolensworth, who was still happily jabbering along on the phone about detention or some other teacher stuff.

Thinking it was safe, he leaned over to see what she was drawing, completely ignoring her warning growl. Aorta quickly snatched it out of his sight and snarled, baing her teeth and narrowing her eyes. "I'm not talking to you, you guppy!"

Slightly taken back by her action and insult, Fish turned and stared ahead, a wash of icey coldness sweeping through his veins. 'What the heck is her problem?' He thought. Fish strained his mind to remember anything that might upset a female. His mind trailed from home to her drawings to school, to certain classes. Then it hit him.

"Bluuub!" He whispered at Aorta to get her attention. She glared at him, freezing completely, her fur starting to stand on its end in agitation. Fish thought he had a reason for her strange actions. "I was wondering...are you having your period?" Aorta's jaw dropped, while Runt and the few around them snorted and had to constrain themselves from laughing.

"I am NOT!" She snapped back, looking horribly dangerous once again. "Ask your NEW girlfriend, Abbey. She might know." And with that, she reached over and deliberately pounded on the glass in front of his helmet hard. Fish felt as if his head was going to explode, as the vibrations pressed his eyes into his sockets, and his brain feeling heavy. He quickly grabbed his diving bell to stop it, and fixed it, his head now pounding.

Aorta laughed at his pain and turned back to her paper. Fish was shocked. She KNEW that hurt him, but why did she do that? Shooting her an angry look she ignored, Fish turned back to the front of the class as a dull clink of a phone hitting a reciver echoed through the room. Mr. Woolensworth was done talking on the phone and turned to the class and jumped seeing Fish.

"Fish! Well, I didn't notice you before. I though you were late! Oh well, I must have overlooked you." It was that moment Aorta's paw cut through the air like a sword and was raised high and unmoving. Mr. W turned and looked at her, lowering his glasses down his muzzle. "Yes, Ms. Houndtooth?" Aorta shot a sideways glance at Fish and smiled.

"I just wanted to let you know that when you were on the phone, Fish snuck into the room, hoping you wouldn't notice." After she said that, she put her arm down and kept staring straight ahead. A THUNK echoed through the classroom, making everyone look for the cause of this sound. It was solved immediently. Fish was resting his head on his desk, but by the looks of it, slammed it down on the desk after Aorta made her lovely comment.

Mr. Woolensworth looked at Fish and then to Aorta and sighed. "Right. Fish, judging by your actions, you have obviously done what Aorta accused you of. You are to stay after school for thirty minutes with me to catch up with the work you missed in class." And with that, the day continued.

As soon as the bell rang for the end of class, Aorta got up and dashed for lunch. Fish slowly got up out of his chair and slouched to the door where he walked head first into something very solid. This solid object was none other than the Football Captain, a silver wolverine by the name of Klutch. He was grinning, throwing a football up and down. Fish felt like he had something to say so he stopped and looks up at the huge figure.

Klutch kept throwing the football up and down, grinning like a psycho. Fish was ready to just scream 'WHAT DO YOU WANT?' at him, but never got the chance because Klutch started to speak. "I heard from a certain she-wolf that you got another detention in less than two months. Good show, Fish. Oaky Oaks' top student stooping so damn low." He threw the football into Fish's stomach so suddenly that it knocked the wind out of the poor goldfish. After inhaling a couple mouthfuls of fresh, cool water, Klutch laughed and walked off.

Fish's eyes followed the looming figure till the turned the corner and was out of site, still howling with laughter, and jumped suddenly when he felt sudden weight on his shoulder. There was Chicken Little, who was looking sympathetic and resting his feathered hand on FIsh's scaley skin. "Look.. buddy... what happened today.. I'm sorry.. if theres.. anything I can do..?" Fish shook his head, and smiled slightly. It felt good to have a friend like Chicken Little. Together, they headed off to lunch.

All through lunch, however, Fish still wasn't feeling any better. This was because Abbey and Runt kept attempting to start a conversation with him, thought better of it, and went back to poking the disgusting looking cafeteria food. it didn't help either, that Aorta sat in plain site of Fish a couple of tables away munching on some crackers. Fish watched her with a sudden feeling of emptyness inside him.

Before he could do anything though, Aorta looked up, her eyes locked onto his. She held up one of the crackers she was eating and Fish felt as if he was going to be sick. They were goldfish crackers. After making sure he saw, the wolven feriously ripped its head off and chewed on it for a few seconds, swallowed and crushed the other half. Fish looked away and shuddered. He never liked those crackers, ever.

As if he wasn't having a bad enough day, the worst was about to come. After staying his half an hour with Mr. W, Fish teetered out of the classroom and was walking past Ms. SpottedFur's classroom when she strolled out. "Oh! Hello Fish!" She said warmly, clutching a bouquet of purple and white roses. Fish looked at the flowers and complemented on how nice they were.

The teacher smiled, then dropped her voice a few decibles and whispered something Fish had barely caught. "I've just been asked out by Lenny, the janitor. He just gave me these. As sweet as these are, I don't want them." And with that she gave them to a confused Fish. "Give these to someone you find special!" The leopard patted him on his back and rushed away to the library. Fish looked and the roses and gulped. 'Well... lets go find Aorta so I can make up with whatever I did.'

Fish glanced at an event calender on the school's tac-board, showing sports practice times. The Tennis team had it till four.. Basketball, two forty-five... YES! Football was just letting out now. If he hurried, he could catch a certain wolf. As he dashed out of the backdoors facing the field, he froze dropping the bundle of roses, which shattered, spewing petals and thorns everywhere as they hit the concrete. He started to breathe heavily at the sight in front of him, anger pulsing though his body.

There was Aorta and Klutch, lips locked in a deep kiss.


	9. Emotional and Physical Scar

( Everyone's Copyrighted to their original owners, blagga blagga blagga. I apologize for the utter latey-lateness of this. I've started High School and French and work kinda piled up. I also had the kind of writers block where... you KNOW what you want to happen but don't know how to write it. Marching band and stuff didn't help either. And of corse, overall lazyness. Yes, I know this chapter is short. Bear with me, ok? ALSO: Fish is NOT turning into a werewolf.)

A slight breeze blew the remains of the once lovely and innocent roses away from the trio. After what seemed like a couple of hours, the two wolven figures broke apart. Butch looked at Aorta, grinning slyly, but his grin quickly faded when he saw she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at an utterly pissed goldfish standing on the concrete school steps.

"Oh, ho ho! What do we have here?" Klutch snarled cruelly. Expecting for Aorta to say something, he waited. After several moments of silence, he glanced over. She was still staring at the young fish, a satisfied smile across her muzzle. Klutch rubbed his leathery nose across his gray-toned fur. "Well, see you tomorrow at practice then..." He growled, turned, and jogged off.

As soon as Klutch was out of earshot, Aorta finally spoke. "How NICE of you to drop in, I was EXPECTING you, dear friend." She then curtsied, taking great care to only have her two middle fingers stick up.

"What the HELL is THIS all about anyway?!" Fish roared in her direction. "First, you ignore me, then get me in trouble, and now THIS!? WHAT THE HELL!?" He repeated." A fury of which Fish had never known seized his mind and muscles. He darted forward at the she-wolf, his fin curled up like a fist, ready to swing through the afternoon air.

When he was less then a couple centimeters away from Aorta, she seemed to vanish. Fish stopped, and looked around wildly. Before he knew it, he was on the ground in immense pain. His front fins were twisted and being pulled behind his back, while Aorta put her clawed foot on his lower neck that wasn't covered by the diving bell. She gave another tug, and the goldfish let a cry of pain escape his lips.

"Since you're just laying there, pay attention." The black wolf snarled. As if Fish had any choice, he blubbed a watery, "Ok." After the wolven tugged a bit harder this time, she continued. "DON'T act like you don't know what this is all about. I'm going off with Klutch, because you simply dumped me for that reject of a duck, Abbey. Now, you can expect that I'm never going to leave you alone for cheating on me. If you didn't love me anymore, you could have told me. But pretending... that's low... even for me. I swear, you WILL remember me."

The next moment of Fish's life was probably more painful than finding his girlfriend in the arms of a Jock. His shoulder ached hysterically, and felt as though something was tearing though his scales. The pain on his arms and backs lessened, as Aorta finally leapt off. She swiftly ran off through the baseball and footballs fields, tears spilling down her face.

Fish rolled over and pulled himself up. His arms were nearly dead and it felt as if his shoulder was bleeding. He went to walk, and nearly fell down again. The pain in his shoulder intensified. He grabbed it with his other fin. Feeling wetness, he pulled his now red fin away from his shoulder. Turning his head slowly, he now understood what Aorta had meant when she said he would remember her.

The bite from her on his shoulder would scar, and be with him till he died.


	10. The Bus

(evil laughter LOOKIT! I GOT OFF MY LAZY BUM! I deserve a COOKIE.

Seriously, I apologize. : I blame highschool. )

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Fish walked with Runt to school a day later. He was put through hell by his dear mother last night about the bite on his shoulder. He claimed he was horsing around with his friends and got snagged by a tree, but he wasn't so sure she was beliveing him.

"So.. She bit you?" Runt asked for the hundreth time. Fish sighed and nodded, feeling if he had to nod one more time, his neck would snap in half. "Wow... I never knew love bites so much." Fish snorted at Runt's unintensional pun, blowing tiny bubbles inside his diving bell.

Runt was quiet for a moment then started freaking out. "OH MY GOSH! WHAT IF SHE HAS RABIES! YOU COULD BE INFECTED! OR SHE COULD HAVE INSERTED GERMS THAT CAN GIVE YOU A STOMACH TUMOR, OR YOU COULD BECOME A WEREWOLF!" Fish looked at him strangely for his outburst, and lifted his eyebrow at Runt's last worry. A werewolf? OH, COMMON. Runt blushed and realized with horror that he'd left his english homework on the island in his kitchen at home, and bolted home.

Fish, not wanting to be late again, told Runt he would meet him in Mutton. About a block from the school, a black blur ran past him, apparently not caring about looking out for walking fish. The black thing knocked hard into his shoulder and continued running. Fish regained his balanced, and stared ahead, his huge eyes refocusing. He was able to catch a glimps of a large, furry, black tail and a rather large pony tail. "Aorta..' He thought savagely. 'She's still angry at me and I don't know why.'

Then, all at once, it hit the goldfish. That night with Abbey, when she fell atop of him playing a game.. Aorta was nearby... meaning, she might have seen and misunderstood the situation. It was decided then, he needed to speak to the wolven and set things straight! He chased after her the best he could, and decided to get her after school.

All through the day, Aorta kept popping her colored pencils in and out of a little crayon box she had, furiously working over a piece of paper, and Fish swore that she started to cry slightly at some points during the day, as he watched her from the corner of his eyes. Instead of being rude to him now, she seemed to be pretending he just didn't exsist in her world.

The final bell rang, as cheers rang throughout the halls. It hit Fish once again; today is a friday! He raced out into the hall, skid and ran toward the algebra classroom, Aorta's 6th period. Sure as sugar, the fae came out of the classroom, clutching the piece of paper she was drawing on all day. Fish screamed her name over the heads of students. Her ears perked, and she turned, seeing Fish battling the rampage of spazzing students.

However, she just turned and ran in the other direction. Fish yelled again, but was forced backwards, the river of students turning into rapids, and he was forced to go with the current, away from Aorta. He was able to escape around the Geography room, near a pair of backdoors. He opened up the doors, ran out and to the front. 'Time to imitate a wolf.' He thought. He crouched behind a bush, hidden from the front and remained still.

Aorta was one of the last kids out of school; she walked with a slight slump towards the street when Fish leapt out. Aorta turned around, hearing the sudden noise, and barked, "Oh. It's only you." Fish stood his ground, his expression full of determination. "It's only me." He blubbed at her. "We're settling this here and now!" He yelled, pointed at the ground below him.

Fish inhaled some sweet water, and continued his rant. "I think I know why you're acting cold to me, and I want to say that it's not what you think!" Aorta leaned on one foot and crossed her arms, eyebrow raised, but she remained where she was. "I wanted to say, whatever you saw with me and Abbey that one night, it's not true! Aorta.. I love you." He stopped and blushed at those last three words.

The wolf's eyes opened a bit more and her mouth opened slightly, her expression softening. As Fish appoached her slowly, her expression changed once again, back to angry. "THE NERVE YOU HAVE!" She yelled in his general direction furisously, making some young birds in a nearby tree chirp angrily and take flight. "TRYING TO GET ME BACK BY SAYING A LIE!? TELL ME, HOW MANY GIRLS DO YOU GO THROUGH!? THEY ARE GIRLS, RIGHT?" She added nastily, before turning on her heel, and stomping off towards the road.

"AORTA, YOU BIT-" Fish began to yell out of pure rage, but his feeling changed from anger to pure terror. "AORTA! WAIT!" He ran after her the best a fish could. She was halfway across the wide street, purely aggitated enough to just not care about anything. She held up her hand above her head, yelling, "TALK TO IT." Fish screamed, "NO! AORTA! MOVE! AORT-"

It was too late. With a earshattering scream and a sound of screeching tires and a yell from Fish, the bus claimed it's next victim.


	11. It All Ends

_Beep... Beep..._

The sound of the heart monitor's beep cut through the dead silence in hospital room 114. Aorta was lying on the bed, clearly unconscious. The Doctors kept rushing in, taking blood samples and checking on the patient. Fish was forced to stay in the waiting room; he was on pins and needles.

As soon as Dr. Oxford passed about the fourth time, Fish stopped him. "Tell me-" The goldfish blubbed "How is she?" Dr. Oxford lowered his horned head and mooed softly, "Its not looking too good. She's still in critical condition. Apparently, she met that truck head on, causing internal bleeding and permanent brain damage." He quickly cleared his throat and power walked back to the lab.

Fish was shocked; she couldn't leave him now. As soon as he finished thinking this over and over for about ten minutes or so, the doors of the waiting room opened. The football team from Oaky Oaks trooped in, Klutch leading. They all had looks of absolute terror or forlorn upon their faces, as if fearing the worst. They all took seats and remained silent; a few looked at Fish and attempted a smile as if to signal everything will be ok, but they faltered and looked back down.

After what seemed like hours, Nurse Stripes came out and announced,  
"Aorta is avabile for visitors..." However, the way she said it, there was no joy or hope. Fish immediately got up, Klutch following. However, one of Klutch's team-mates gripped the captain's hand and pulled him back down, whispering, "Let the fish go first. He knew her best." Klutch was silent, and then nodded, his fur around his face white as a ghost.

Fish followed the tiger to the room, and she quickly ushered him in and shut the door behind him. Aorta was lazily watching him, her eyes glossy and lifeless. "..Fish..." She murmured. Leaving all dignity behind, Fish darted foreword and collapsed at the side of her hospital bed, aquatic tears in his eyes. His fins gripped her one hand that didn't have the IV needle in, and he looked into her eyes.

"Fish... do me a favor..." She asked, more wind escaping her mouth then words. She slowly signaled toward her backpack with her muzzle. "Open my backpack up, and pull out a folded piece of paper next to my pencil box." She coughed and watched him do it. The fish attempted to hand it to her, but she refused to take it. "It's yours. I only wish I got to finish the background..." She coughed again, a little bit of blood dribbling down her jaw.

"I... also want to... apologize... I believed you... but I couldn't forgive myself... for jumping... to conclusions..." She started to become fainter. Fish shook her hand gently. "Aorta! Stay with me!" He said loudly, his brown eyes wide. Aorta shook her head, "I'm sick of fighting a loosing battle. I'm only sorry I didn't stop before... things might have been different then..." She seemed to choke; the grip tightened on her hands, and she drew her terminal breath.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

The heart monitor went flat. Fish stared in shock, watching the lifeless wolf laying in her bed, eyes still open and staring out to the heavens. Then the pain hit him. Fish began to weep hopelessly. He would stay here and perish with her, no matter how long it took!

The doctors rushed in after a few minutes, then hung their heads at the same signal the heart monitor read. A few nurses pried Fish off the bed, whose helmet consisted mostly of tears instead of water now. He fought, he wanted to go back, but it was no use. She was gone, and nothing could change that.

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Later that night, Fish wept into the pillows upon his bed, when it hit him. The piece of paper she had given him still remained unopened. He crawled over to his bedside table and picked up the now wet paper. Inside was a drawing, a bit tarnished by the rapid flow of water around him, but it was still clearly visible what it was.

There was Aorta, looking happy and full of life, and right next to her was himself, grinning like a madman and... His heart skipped a beat. She had drawn a folf there, no doubt as a joke. He hiccupped, and smiled, eyes still streaming. It was hard to believe that this picture wasn't just a photograph, it was that good. He carefully folded it up, thinking what Aorta had said before.

A new feeling came over him, and it wasn't sadness. It was actually happiness and a little bit of joy. Aorta was in a better place now, and besides, she wasn't really gone... He eyed the necklace she had given him, floating around on the dresser... as long as he kept believing, she wasn't gone for good. 'Who knows...' he thought. 'Someday, we'll be together again...' And with that, he placed the picture into the drawer of the bedside table, to ensure it from being lost.

_No one had to know..._


End file.
